Archived News Release: May 6, 2019 - Candidates for the Ann Arbor chief of police position will be coming to Ann Arbor to meet City Council, staff and the public. The police chief position is currently vacant, with duties being fulfilled on an interim basis by Robert Pfannes, who will retire May 24 after 21 years of service to the city.
The City of Ann Arbor is hosting a public reception for community members to meet the police chief candidates. The event will take place Wednesday, May 15, 5:30–7:30 p.m., in the Ann Arbor Justice Center lobby. The city will then hold police chief candidate public interviews with City Council Friday, May 17, 9 a.m.–noon at Larcom City Hall, second floor, Council chambers. The Ann Arbor Justice Center and Larcom City Hall buildings are adjacent to one another at 301 E. Huron St.; meter parking is located along Ann Street.
Information on the candidates follows:
Michael Cox has served with the Boston, Massachusetts, Police Department since 1989. He currently is the bureau chief, Bureau of Professional Development superintendent, for the Boston Police Academy, a position he has held since 2018. He previously held the position of deputy superintendent of the Boston Police Department Bureau of Field Services and commander of the operations division. Cox earned a master of business administration from Questrom School of Business – Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts; a master of arts in criminal justice from Curry College, Milton, Massachusetts; and a bachelor of science in business management from Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island.
Jason Forsberg is currently deputy chief of the Ann Arbor Police Department, a position he has held since January 2018. Forsberg previously served with the University of Michigan Police Department for more than 20 years, starting as a police officer, then becoming a detective before advancing to sergeant, lieutenant and, ultimately, captain at the Ann Arbor campus. He transferred to the Dearborn campus in 2016, where he served as deputy chief of police before coming to the AAPD. Forsberg earned a bachelor's degree from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, and is currently pursuing a master of public administration at the University of Michigan – Dearborn.
Bryan Jarrell is currently the chief of police in Prescott Valley, Arizona, a position he has held since November 2013. He started his career with the Southfield, Michigan, Police Department in 1985 where he worked as a police officer/specialist, sergeant in the patrol division, crime prevention and community policing, progressing to lieutenant before becoming deputy police chief for 10 years. Jarrell earned a master's degree in administrative leadership from the University of Oklahoma, and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, with honors, from Eastern Michigan University.
The city's recruitment process was preceded with community outreach — an online and paper survey as well as public meetings — in December 2018 and January 2019 to help identify the ideal qualities Ann Arbor's new police chief should possess. The city plans to announce a new chief of police later this spring. In the meantime, more information about the recruitment process can be found on the city website at www.a2gov.org/AAPDChiefRecruitment.
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